Rodriguez Headlines ‘Battle of the Bay 8’ on July 10

By: Brian KnappJul 3, 2009

Former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco
Rodriguez will collide with American Top Team’s Mario
Rinaldi in the main event at World Fighting Championships
“Battle of the Bay 8” on July 10 at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa,
Fla.

The 31-year-old Rodriguez (34-10), who has not been finished in
more than six years, has rattled off five wins in six fights,
though he dropped a unanimous decision to Rinaldi’s ATT stablemate,
Jeff
Monson, at a Mixed Fighting Alliance event in December. The
troubled Rodriguez, who has battled substance abuse and weight
issues throughout his career, remains one of the heavyweight
division’s most accomplished submission fighters. A Brazilian
jiu-jitsu and Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling world
champion, he has delivered more than half (19) of his 34 career
victories by submission. Rodriguez holds notable wins against
former UFC titleholders Randy Couture
and Andrei
Arlovski.

Rinaldi (9-3, 1 NC), meanwhile, has never been submitted as a
professional and routinely pushes the 300-pound plateau. A training
partner of UFC veteran Din Thomas, he
last appeared in January when he submitted Rocky Bastastini with a
first-round kimura at an Art of Fighting show. In fact, the EliteXC
veteran has put away his last two opponents inside one round.

“Battle of the Bay 8” also features unbeaten welterweight prospect
Dustin
Winterholt, along with Sengoku and World Extreme Cagefighting
veteran Chris
Manuel.